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How long is too long to leave a dog alone?

How long is too long to leave a dog alone on a daily basis? Is there a difference between a dog being in a crate for 10 hours inside with the AC running versus in a kennel or on a chain with more room outdoors in the hot sun?

I personally have left my dog for 11 hours once. It wasn't on purpose, just necessary. I normally leave her for 5 hours in the morning, come home for an hour at lunch, and then leave her for four to five hours after that. She doesn't seem to be lacking anything, it doesn't hurt her. She just sleeps all day :)

JC is alone from 7 in the morning til 6 at night. He has free reign of the apartment.

I think if you have an outside dog, as long as there is sufficient shade and water, being outside all day should not be a problem

I agree with this completely, and when my little patterdale mix was in the house, it was the same when I worked. He would be inside alone for sometimes up to 10 hours a day.....
I think too long INSIDE is more about 12 hours, I mean they have to go to the bathroom too!
Outside..like said! If they have sufficient living quarters, we do it all of the time.

mine could be left alone for up to 10 hours or so. they are in crates during this time. this has just started as my last daughter has moved out. they are then out during all time home with me for the evening. 1 stays out to sleep, the other 2 go into the crates for the night. they each get their turn out for the night.

Leaving pet alone

Anywhere for 8 hrs is too long in my opinion unless they are well trained to roam free in the house and even in that case you need to schedule activities such as hide Kong toys around house w/ treats in them and uhmmm heck that "cube toy" can't think of name you put food in it LOL and it is like a puzzle they have to play with it for long time and it lets out little treats at a time. Go to you tube and punch in dog trainer there is a guy on there with good ideas of how to keep them busy so they will not tear up your home if you have to leave, especially for a Pit Bull. If you Crate or chain any dog for 11 hrs as you stated everyday you are looking for a very aggressive sad pooch. Better to find a doggy day care if you must leave the dog during the day everyday. NEVER CHAIN A PIT, NEVER CRATE A PIT LONG EITHER. Pit Lvr Lacy & her BABY doll Dezyl who thinks he is human.

My dogs got crated for up to 12 hours a lot when I was in nursing clinicals. They never seemed to have a problem with it. Now that I am home all day they only get crated if I'm leaving the house for more than an hour.

Lacy, no disrespect, but you have no idea what you're talking about. You've been brainwashed by the animal rights groups and fed a bunch of crap.
Properly chaining or crating ANY dog will not make them sad and aggressive. They are SAFE methods of containing your dogs when you either aren't home or have a multiple dog household.
If I let my dog free roam the house while we were at work all day, she would get into an enormous amount of trouble. We tried leaving her just in the bedroom for a while, but she becomes destructive and can't be left to her own devices. She's crated 9-10 hours a day, and is still a sweet, loving, happy little bulldog.
I suggest you do some searches on the site for crating, chaining, and safe containment. Read and learn.

EDIT: The doggy daycare statement is ludicrous! APBT's are more often than not dog aggressive. Most doggie day cares won't even take bully breeds, and anyone who knows the breed is aware that it's a BAD IDEA! Never trust a pit bull not to fight! Do you want to have to explain to someone that a pit bull killed their lab in daycare? I think not.

Anywhere for 8 hrs is too long in my opinion unless they are well trained to roam free in the house and even in that case you need to schedule activities such as hide Kong toys around house w/ treats in them and uhmmm heck that "cube toy" can't think of name you put food in it LOL and it is like a puzzle they have to play with it for long time and it lets out little treats at a time. Go to you tube and punch in dog trainer there is a guy on there with good ideas of how to keep them busy so they will not tear up your home if you have to leave, especially for a Pit Bull. If you Crate or chain any dog for 11 hrs as you stated everyday you are looking for a very aggressive sad pooch. Better to find a doggy day care if you must leave the dog during the day everyday. NEVER CHAIN A PIT, NEVER CRATE A PIT LONG EITHER. Pit Lvr Lacy & her BABY doll Dezyl who thinks he is human.

I suggest you also stick around and learn a thing or two. This post is completely ridiculous and uneducated to say the least. No offense, it is just wrong.

My dog is crated each day during the weekdays while I am at work, approximately 10 hours. I am sure to excercise him well before leaving in the morning and of course tons of playtime each night after getting home. He is a perfectly happy pooch.

Anywhere for 8 hrs is too long in my opinion unless they are well trained to roam free in the house and even in that case you need to schedule activities such as hide Kong toys around house w/ treats in them and uhmmm heck that "cube toy" can't think of name you put food in it LOL and it is like a puzzle they have to play with it for long time and it lets out little treats at a time. Go to you tube and punch in dog trainer there is a guy on there with good ideas of how to keep them busy so they will not tear up your home if you have to leave, especially for a Pit Bull. If you Crate or chain any dog for 11 hrs as you stated everyday you are looking for a very aggressive sad pooch. Better to find a doggy day care if you must leave the dog during the day everyday. NEVER CHAIN A PIT, NEVER CRATE A PIT LONG EITHER. Pit Lvr Lacy & her BABY doll Dezyl who thinks he is human.

And what if one of your pit bull's is DA? You will be coming home to one of your dogs dead.

Chains are a tool, nothing more. It's the owner behind the chain that is either responsible or irresponsible.

I don't crate or chain because there is no need to in my situation. Crating or tethering properly should cause no harm to the dog if it is a well-balanced dog to begin with. LacyB, if you have problem dog (unbalanced)...it won't matter if he/she is tethered, crated or allowed to roam free...he/she will still be unbalanced. FYI, the members here that tether and/or crate thier dogs do so for the good of the dog/dogs.

LacyB, you really need to educate yourself on the proper ways of keeping a dog! My dog is crated when no one is home. All most dogs do all day when their owners are gone are sleep anyway. In fact, I know of a few times where I have come home, after forgetting to put her away before I leave, I come back, and guess what, she is coming out of her crate. She knows. Her current caretaker has stated the same has happened a couple times. There is nothing wrong in the least with responsibly chaining or crating a dog. It is safer that way, in lots of ways. I don't know where you got your information, but you need to do some research somewhere that isn't a bunch of terrorists in disguise.

I almost forgot to address the issue of doggy daycare. Even if I knew my dog wasn't in any way, shape, or form dog aggressive, I would NEVER put her in a place like that. Those places are accident waiting to happen. There are too many dogs and not enough people, let alone experienced people to watch them. What happens if another dog attacks? Sure, some say that they screen potential clients, but a quick 10 minute meeting is different than leaving a dog in an unfamiliar environment with strange people and dogs for 8-10 hours. IMO that is worlds more stressful on a dog than leaving it in a crate for the same amount of time.

As long as you are willing to clean up a little "oops" sometimes, a dog will be fine for up to twelve hours, but only when necessary. I see no problem with ten hours, they tend to just sleep, eat, sleep when their humans are gone anyway.
I say twelve hours, because my kelly dog, who is ancient, will have accidents, I put her in the utility room, and leave doggy diapers for her, but she is incontenent (sp?) anyhow.

I think that it depends on the dog and the age of the dog. Every dog is different. The little dogs can be in their crate for up to 10 hours and have been there longer. The husky gets free roam of the back yard. Lugz can easily be in his crate for 5 or 6 hours.

Anywhere for 8 hrs is too long in my opinion unless they are well trained to roam free in the house and even in that case you need to schedule activities such as hide Kong toys around house w/ treats in them and uhmmm heck that "cube toy" can't think of name you put food in it LOL and it is like a puzzle they have to play with it for long time and it lets out little treats at a time. Go to you tube and punch in dog trainer there is a guy on there with good ideas of how to keep them busy so they will not tear up your home if you have to leave, especially for a Pit Bull. If you Crate or chain any dog for 11 hrs as you stated everyday you are looking for a very aggressive sad pooch. Better to find a doggy day care if you must leave the dog during the day everyday. NEVER CHAIN A PIT, NEVER CRATE A PIT LONG EITHER. Pit Lvr Lacy & her BABY doll Dezyl who thinks he is human.

:(:mad:

I hope nobody takes this information as good. This is misinformation at it's best and leaving dogs alone together during the day is asking for trouble. 95% of their time while your gone is spent sleeping if they are kept inside. Crating is the responsible thing to do. The only issue is having a big enough crate. I can't stand when people think all they need is enough room to turn around.

When my seven month old hears me turn off the tv before i leave for work, she gets in her crate on her own. I think she enjoys it. Wife comes home at lunch for an hour. Can't imagine what we would find when we returned home if she was left to roam the house on her own.

I've left my girl alone maybe 2 or 3 times for 14 hours, crated. But only because we were called to mandatory o/t due a storm and I had no choice.

That said, girl now has free reign of the house, while the boy is in the locked laundryroom for up to 11-12 hours at a time (over night). During the day, he's at work with me, or, if it's too hot to go to work, he's in there maybe 4 hours between breaks to go outside.

I generally don't leave either on them inside for any longer than 6 hrs without at a least a potty break outside.

I didn't catch how doggie daycare came up, but I would *never* leave one of of my dogs at a facility that did doggie playgroups. If I go out of town, I board at the vet, who has indoor/outdoor cement and chain link runs, with the indoor portion facing inside the hospital hallway itself and has a 24/7 vet and vet techs on staff.

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